Plate-holding device.



F.- w. WESTON. PLATE HOLDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULYYZ, 1913.

Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

1H5 NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHDTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. Dy 0.

roLKE WILLIAM 'wnsrron, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR To 1?. wnsELiv'raNuFAo. TUBING COMPANY, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A. oonronarron or NEW YORK.

PLATE-HOLDING DEVICE.

Specification'ofLettersPatent. P t ted-Ma 23,1915,

Application filed July 2, 191-3. Serial No. 777,061.

To all whom it may concern:

" Be it known that vI, FOLKE VVILLI-AM WESTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plate-Holding Devices, of which the following is a specification. The invention relates to means for bold ing stereotype, electrotype and other printing plates, and it relates particularly to a device which comprises a block or base which may be either fiat or cylindrical, having dovetail grooves andmargin clamps arranged upon the block. Each clamp comprises a plate engaging jaw, a screw and a nut therefor. The screw passes through the jaw into the nut and whentightened draws the nut into frictional engagement with the sides of the grooved portions of the base, whereby the clamp may be maintained in the desired necessary friction to retain the nutin any desired position in a grooved. portion of the base and to hold the nut in said position as against the force of'gravity which tends to move it, especially when the grooved portion, in which the nut is directly located, extends in a generally vertical direction. On 'a grooved cylindrical base thegrooved portions generally extend spirally around the outer portion thereof and, of course, there is a tendency for the nuts to slide around the base to the lower portion thereof. This is prevented by the spring just referred to.

, As showing a specific embodiment of the invention, reference is made to the drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which I Figure 1 shows a ,part of a base or block supporting thereupon a printers plate which is secured in place by marginal clamps. Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are respectively plan, side and end'views of one of the marginal clamps shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively plan and end views of the nut which is utilized in marginall clamps of the type such as is illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Fig. 7 is a sectional View of a grooved portion of the base and a nut in place therein. -Fig,

8 is a side-view of a cylindrical base with r a printers plate secured in place thereupon by marginal clamps. Fig. 9 is a View showing in cross section a portion of the cylindrical base, one of the marginal clamps and a portion of the printing plate illustrated in Fig. 8 1

In Fig, 1 the reference character A desig: nates a fiat base or block for supporting thereupon a printing .plate such as is desig: nated by B. The base is provided attlie top thereof with several parallel grooves or slots C which are dovetail in cross j section, r as 1s clearly shown 1n Fig. 7.

In Figs; 8 and 9 the reference character A designates a cylindrical base, while B designates the printing plate. On the base A, the grooves or slots are indicated by C. These grooves extend spi-rally'around the only portion of the base. The printing plates are held in place on the base by marginal clamps suchas D, D, D D, D and D Each of thesev clamps comprises a plate engaging jaw, a screw or screws that passtherethrough, and a nutor nuts for the screw or screws.

Clamp ;D in Fig. 1 or clamp is shown enlarged in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. In

either one of. the last mentioned clamps the plate-engaging jaw-:1 has. a countersunk;

opening 2 for receiving the vertically ex= tending screw 3 that enters the screw thread= ed portion of the nut 4. Theplate engaging jaw 1 isv also generally provided with a 'diagon-ally extending portion 5. which enters andfits into the'slotted portion of thebase. The nuts 4 enter the slotted portions of the base, as for example grooves C of base A or grooves C of base-A, extend longitudinally along the slotted portions and occupy therein. the position shown in Figs 7. These nuts are preferablyflat on top, have sides 6 that converge or taper toward the top and each have a bottom that bulges downwardly, thus causing the'nut to have a comparaa tivelv thick portion 7 which extends along thelongitudinal central portion. The nut is also provided with a longitudinally extend ing bow shaped spring Smade of flat. metal.

This spring extends substantially the full length of the nut and has an upright portion at one end which is received in a vertically extending slot 9 at one end of the nut. The metal of the nut at the sides of the slot is upset, as indicated at 10, in a manner to firmly and permanently secure the spring in place.

The nut when of the shape shown in Fig. 7 can be readily inserted at any point along the dovetail groove by a movement in a direction transverse to the direction in which the groove extends, and for the reason that the nut can thus be passed downwardly or transversely into the grooves C or C, it is known in the printing trade as a drop-in nut. From a further inspection of Fig. 7 it will be observed that the spring 8 e11- gages the bottom or innermost part 11 of the grooved portion C and thus the spring can serve as a means for pressing or forcing the nut upwardly or outwardly into engagement with the slanting sides, thus supporting or maintaining the nut in a position where it will be easy for the operator to insert the screw 3 when assembling the clamps, and also serving as a means to retain the nut in any desired place in the groove in which the nut is located.

As above indicated, the spring which is secured to the nut presses against the base with suflicient force to create enough friction to maintain the nut in the desired portion of the groove. This force must be of suliicient magnitude to overcome theaction of gravity which tends to cause at least some of the nuts to slide downwardly along the spiral grooves of base A to the portions of the grooves which are at the bottom or lower portion of the base.

It is manifest that various forms and modifications may be made, especially in the general shape of the nut and in the means for supporting the nut in elevated position, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

" lVhat I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base or block for supporting printers plates, and a plate-clamping means, said means comprising a plate-engaging jaw, a nut provided with a base-em gaging spring, and a screw which passes through the jaw to and into the threaded portion of the nut, the base being provided with dovetail grooves, into any one of which the nut can be inserted by movement in a direction transverse to that in which the groove extends, said nut having beveled sides so that when the screw is tightened the jaw will be secured in place on the base, the spring in the nut being arranged so that it will engage the base and press the nut upwardly, whereby the screw may be readily inserted in the nut during the operation of assembling the various parts of the clamp.

2. In a device of the class described a longitudinally-extending nut having a screw threaded portion for receiving a verticallyextending screw, upwardly tapering sides, a base portion that bulges downwardly and at one end a vertically-extending slotted spring-receiving portion, the nut being also provided with a longitudinallyextending flat bow-spring having an upright portion which is secured in the slotted portion by upsetting the metal at the sides of the slotted portion.

3. A longitudinally-extending nut "for use with bases for supporting printing plates, said nut having a flat top, sides that converge toward the top and a bottom that bulges downwardly, the nut being providedv with a depending spring that extends substantially the full length of the nut.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base grooved at the top part, and a clamping means, the clamping means comprising a plate-engaging jaw, a screw, and a base engaging drop-in nut which is provided with means that engage the base and force the nut upwardly.

5. A. longitudinally-extending nut for use in a printing plate holding device, said nut having upwardly tapering sides and provided with a depending longitudinallyextending bow-shaped spring that is secured at one end of the nut.

6. A. nut for the purpose specified having sides that converge toward the top and provided with a depending spring.

7. In a. device of the class described a grooved base and a nut in a groove thereof, said nut having a threaded portion for receiving a vertically extending screw, sides that converge toward the top of the nut and a comparatively thick portion which extends along the longitudinal central portion, the nut also provided with a longitudinally extending flat bow-shaped spring which is secured at one end to the nut and which engages the bottom portion of the groove in which the nut is located.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a grooved base and a clamping means, the clamping means comprising a plate-engaging jaw, a screw and a baseengagdng drop-in nut which is provided with base-engaging means for retaining the nut in any desired place in a groove in which the nut is located whereby the clamp parts can be readily assembled.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a cylindrical base and plate engaging means, the cylindrical base being provided on the outer portion thereof with a series of spiral grooves, the plate clamping 7 means comprising a plate-engaging jaw, a This specification signed and witnessed screw and a base-engaging drop-in? nut this 1st day of July A. D. 1913.

which is provided With base-engaging FOLKEWILLIAM WESTON. spring means for retaining the nut in any Signed in the presence of 5 desired place in a groove in which the nut G. MOGRANN,

is located. EDWIN A. PACKARD.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! .Eatentl,

Washington, D. C. 

